Demand remains strong at Softcat, CMA puts brakes on Experian purchase of ClearScore

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 27 points higher on Wednesday, having closed down 0.27% at 7,016.85 on Tuesday.

Stocks to watch

IT services company Softcat said first quarter customer demand had remained strong across all segments, helping to deliver year-on-year growth in revenue, gross profit and operating profit without specifying numbers. “Our second quarter has started well and I'm confident we will meet the Board's expectations for the year," it added in a trading statement.

Experian's agreed takeover of start-up credit scoring rival ClearScore could be blocked by UK competition authorities. An investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority has found that the deal is "likely to result in less intense competition" and potentially harming digital developments in the personal finance market.

Plastic products design and engineering company RPC Group issued its half-year results for the six months ended 30 September on Wednesday, reporting revenue growth of 7% to £1.89bn. The FTSE 250 company said that was the result of continued organic growth of 3.2%, the contribution from acquisitions, and pass-through of higher polymer prices, partially offset by foreign exchange movements. Adjusted operating profit rose 3% to £214.3m, which RPC’s board said demonstrated tis good organic profit growth despite headwinds in polymer.

Newspaper round-up

Britain is running out of food warehousing facilities needed by retailers and manufacturers to stockpile goods before a possible no-deal Brexit – and the shortage may be the result of Amazon booking the space, MPs have been told. Ian Wright, the director general of the Food and Drink Federation, told the business, Energy and industrial strategy committee (BEIS) on Tuesday that a shortage of space had driven up the cost of chilled warehouse space, even though the shelves may be empty. – Guardian

Customers of Britain’s 7,000 biggest companies would be given the right to vote on the pay of top executives under plans for a clampdown on boardroom pay being considered by Labour. A report commissioned by Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, and John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, calls for an annual binding vote on executive packages to include all stakeholders – including employees and consumers. – Guardian

Facebook investigated suspicions of Russian data harvesting as early as 2014, at least two years before the social network admitted to widespread interference from Moscow, according to private emails seized by Parliament. Damian Collins, the chairman of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, revealed that Facebook staff had found computers in Russia accessing “3bn data points a day” from the social network in 2014. – Telegraph

Theme park operator Euro Disney has revealed it will create more than 1,000 jobs as part of a development plan which it hopes will double its visitor capacity and triple the number of hotel rooms on its site by 2030. The resort on the outskirts of Paris is Europe’s most popular tourist attraction and has around 15m visitors annually. Half of them come from France followed by Britain which represents around 28pc of the total. – Telegraph

Google has paid $1 billion for a business park in Silicon Valley, meaning it has completed the two largest property deals in America this year. The internet company acquired a 12-building campus in Mountain View, minutes away from its California base. Shoreline Technology Park was already largely occupied by Google. – The Times

US close

Wall Street trading ended with some small gains on Tuesday as investors digested the latest news surrounding trade relations with China after Donald Trump implied that he would impose tariffs on iPhones and laptops imported from China.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.44% higher at 24,748.73, while the S&P 500 closed 0.33% firmer at 2,682.20 as the Nasdaq Composite collected 0.01% to wrap the session at 7,082.70.

Stocks closed a touch higher on Tuesday as trade relations between China and the US were in focus again after Trump renewed his China tariff threats ahead of the G20 meeting at the end of the week.

China's foreign ministry spokesman told reporters that on a phone call earlier this month Trump and president Xi Jinping had agreed to reach a "mutually beneficial" arrangement on trade.

Reports of Trump and Xi's agreement initially sparked a flurry of buying, pushing US stock futures up by around 1% in a matter of minutes, but these gains were erased when it became clear that the comments were referring to a telephone call that had taken place at the start of the month.